fiction/non/fiction

Bestselling novelist Celeste Ng joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about the wide range of GOP policies and initiatives hurting children. This includes recent news of Ron DeSantis pushing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that authorizes Florida to take emergency custody of trans children “threatened with” receiving gender-affirming care, and justifies the action by classing that...

Journalist and novelist Dawnie Walton joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about U.S. concert culture. Why are live concerts so popular this summer and why have they so often become violent? Walton discusses how recent examples of fan violence speak to racism and sexism in American culture, as well as the role social media plays in fandom. Finally, she reads from her 2021...

Bestselling novelist and former Twitter employee Robin Sloan joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about how Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter and the rise of new platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky, and Meta’s Threads are shaping a new ecosystem of social media. The co-hosts and Sloan grapple with the unruliness of Twitter over time, political polarization on different platfo...

Poet Jaswinder Bolina joins co-host Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about how the Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw the consideration of race in college admissions will affect MFA programs. The group reflects on why diversity is a crucial part of any writer’s education and the risk that this decision will change writing programs for the worse. Comparing the MFA admissions processe...

Novelist and nonfiction writer Beth Nguyen joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to talk about her new memoir, Owner of a Lonely Heart, which is about her separation from and connection to her mother. Nguyen explains how when she came to the U.S. as a refugee, her mother was left behind in Vietnam. She discusses how returning to scenes depicted in her previous memoir, Stealing Bud...

Editor and literary critic Oscar Villalon joins V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to celebrate the life and legacy of the novelist Cormac McCarthy, who died last month. The hosts and Villalon reflect on McCarthy’s vast vocabulary and cinematic descriptions, in which he juxtaposed lyrical prose with graphic violence. Villalon considers McCarthy’s use of regionally accurate Spanish in the Bord...

Novelist Jean Kwok joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss recent changes to child labor laws in the U.S., as more than 10 states have proposed or enacted legislation that would loosen restrictions on minors working. The three talk about what the shift means in relation to labor shortages and consider migrant children’s unique vulnerability to exploitation. Kwok describes...

Novelist Jacinda Townsend joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss Joe Biden’s stubbornly low poll numbers among Democrats, which persist despite his legislative accomplishments. Townsend talks about the administration’s struggles to communicate its goals and achievements and explains why Biden’s policy decisions—past and present—have often disappointed Black and younger v...

Novelist Matt Quirk joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss what makes the White House such a popular place to set stories—including scenes in his newest thriller, Inside Threat, as well as a previous book, The Night Agent , which is now a hit Netflix series. Quirk suggests that the White House is a unique space where the domestic sphere intersects with the seat of world...

Writer Matt Bell joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the eerily familiar run-up to the 2024 presidential race, as well as his latest novel, Appleseed . Referencing his recent craft book, Refuse to Be Done, Bell talks about how literature frequently uses repetition and non-linear chronology to mimic the experience of trauma. He also explains how expanding Appleseed ’s...

Writer Jane Roper joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss cancel culture and her new book, The Society of Shame . Roper teases out some of the similarities and differences between the group in her novel and the real-life “Gathering of Thought Criminals” as recently covered in the New Yorker . She discusses what social and moral offenses can and cannot be forgiven. She rea...

Financial correspondent and podcast host Felix Salmon joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the debt ceiling crisis and his new book The Phoenix Economy: Work, Life, and Money in the New Not Normal . Salmon unpacks the political and financial ramifications of our current debt ceiling crisis—and compares the present impasse to prior debt ceiling fights. He also discusses...

Novelist, screenwriter, and Writers Guild of America member Benjamin Percy joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the Hollywood writers’ strike, which began May 2. Percy talks about several WGA contract proposals tied to streaming services’ rise in popularity, and reflects on how streaming has upended the traditional 22-episode television season, causing writers to scram...

Writer Kerri Arsenault joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the recent derailment of a train carrying hazardous chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio. Arsenault is the author of Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains , an investigative memoir about her hometown, Mexico, Maine, where a paper mill released dioxins into the environment for decades. Arsenault talks about the e...

Writers B.J. Best, Andrew Ervin, and Brittney Morris join co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell live from the Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri to discuss the narrative realms of video games and the evolving space they inhabit. The group reminisces about their first experiences playing and talks about nostalgia, reflects on ludology vs narratology in game design, and analyzes...

Visual artist and poet José Faus, journalist C.J. Janovy, and writer Desideria Mesa, join host Whitney Terrell live from the Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri, to discuss Kansas City’s literary legacy and its future. The group focuses on new book ban legislation, as well a white homeowner’s recent shooting of Black teenager Ralph Yarl, who mistakenly knocked on his door. Mesa reflects on...

Bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new novel, Romantic Comedy , which begins behind the scenes at a television show similar to Saturday Night Live, where a female comedy writer is gobsmacked that her schlubby straight male co-workers keep dating famous women seemingly out of their league. Sittenfeld discusses dating up, women...

Fiction writer Jeff Boyd joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his debut novel, The Weight , a coming-of-age story about a young Black musician who struggles with romance, religion, and racism in predominantly white Portland. Boyd talks about his personal struggles with and admiration of faith, the difficulties of developing an identity, and his own experiences as a Bla...

Writer Dina Nayeri joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new nonfiction book, Who Gets Believed ?: When the Truth Isn’t Enough, an examination of whose narratives are considered trustworthy and why, with a focus on refugees and asylum seekers. Nayeri, who was born in Iran and granted asylum to the U.S. when she was 10, talks about the case of a Sri Lankan Tamil man...

Journalist Will Sommer joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his new book Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America , a history of the rise of the cultish right-wing group. Sommer, a reporter for The Daily Beast , has covered QAnon since its inception and explains its origins, what—and who—drives it now, and how he handles interviewing p...

Fiction writer Victor LaValle joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his new novel Lone Women , which tells the suspenseful story of Adelaide Henry, a Black woman with a mysterious trunk who heads from California to Montana to become a solo homesteader in 1915. LaValle talks about the inspiration for the novel’s incendiary opening, how the story merges horror and history...

Prize-winning Iraqi journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his new book A Stranger in Your Own City, which features Iraqi perspectives on the United States’ invasion and occupation of Iraq. Abdul-Ahad talks about what Western media missed and also considers the early stages of the war and how resentment built over time. He reflects on the fal...

Fiction writers Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro join co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the newly published essay collection Letters to a Writer of Color , which they co-edited. The book features 17 pieces by authors of color from all over the world reflecting on aspects of craft and the writing life. Anappara and Soomro talk about how experiences in their MFA program le...

Acclaimed fiction writer Ann Beattie joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her recent LitHub essay about Donald Barthelme’s short story “The Balloon” and the Chinese spy balloon. She also talks about her recently published first collection of essays, More to Say: Essays and Appreciations , in which she writes about the work of authors, photographers, and artists she adm...

Following a gutsy, thrilling 2023 Super Bowl win by the Kansas City Chiefs, sportswriters Mark Dent and Rustin Dodd join co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss their forthcoming book Kingdom Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs, and How a Once Swingin' Cow Town Chased the Ultimate Comeback . Dent and Dodd map out the relationship between race and football in Ka...